Hi! Thanks for still tuning in, life got in the way - I moved to a new city and started a new job! As always review if you wanna. I'm so ready for s9. Ok Bye!
Daniel Williams was in a mood; a very irritable, slightly homicidal mood. It had been seven stressful weeks since he and Rachel had given into temptation. In the early morning haze of love and nostalgia, everything had felt right – reconciliation had felt like the obvious course of action. That idea had lasted little more than a week before he and Rachel were back to fighting over trivial matters to avoid having the actual fight, to save whatever they had with one another.
Melissa had broken things off with Danny immediately after he'd told her he'd slept at Rachel's. He never even got the chance to confess to sleeping with Rachel before Melissa had hung up and blocked him. But, that had lasted a short while and before he'd even been back in Rachel's good graces to ask if she'd taken a pregnancy test; he and Melissa were back like nothing had ever happened.
So, it was surprising for Danny, as he was entering headquarters, seeing Rachel's name in his phone alerting him to the fact that she was indeed pregnant and it was confirmed with an ultrasound picture. He resented Rachel for telling him this information via text, devoid of emotion, and her cruel joke about not waiting three years to tell him this time. It was only eight in the morning, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Fuck! Why couldn't his life ever be simple? Did she even know how much her message hurt him? What would Melissa say? He had no time to react before he was bombarded with hellos from 5-O around the smart computer.
Immediately, Steve knew something was troubling his partner. Everyone knew that Danny wore his emotions on his sleeve, but this was something else entirely. Steve's heart dropped as he began to fear the worst—that Danny's father had passed away. Noticing the dip in energy upon Danny's arrival, everyone waited for McGarrett to make the first move on checking on Danny; except before he could speak, Jerry beat him.
"Danny, is everything alright?" Jerry asked concern evident in his facial expression. Danny didn't know how to answer – nothing was alright, and yet everything was alright. All Danny could muster was a weak yes, before his mind was off again, strategizing how to handle this fallout.
"I…uh, have to go home. I…um need to…" Danny trailed out before Steve was beckoning him to his office, but Danny couldn't move. He needed to process everything without the ever-perceptive eyes of Steve and Lou.
"Danno, is it your Dad? Why don't you sit down in your office for a second? You don't look so good, man." Steve said pleadingly. He grabbed Danny's forearm to guide him, but Danny waved him off.
"I can't, Steven. You see, I have to go. I have to go tell my girlfriend, that my ex-wife is now pregnant with my children. So, no, I can't sit down right now."
"Children?" Tani knew this conversation was none of her business, but she blurted her question without thinking. Tani liked Grace, liked what she saw of her mother, and she didn't know Melissa. She had no dogs in this fight, but come on, how was Danny making this kind of mistake in his forties?
"Yes. I am now a father of four. Two out and two in utero." And with that Danny began beaming. He knew the circumstances were shit, but a child – no, children were a blessing. His rollercoaster of emotions was disturbing the team, he had just admitted so much more of his personal life to the team than anyone would have expected. Danny lets them know he'll be back before lunch and that all the reports Steve's asked for, will be on his desk by the end of the day. He's got a lot of explaining to do today to the women in his life.
"Wow." Is all Steve can muster up.
"Yes, wow." Danny is irritated that no one is being congratulatory, but he can't exactly blame them. It's just he needs the positive reassurance that this is a good thing. He knows his causal relationship with Melissa is most likely over, but signing up for at least eighteen more years of co-parenting with Rachel was scary and thrilling as hell.
Meanwhile, Steve is floored by his partner's revelation. Danny went from panicked to elated to pissed all within a minute, and Steve wasn't sure how to react. When Danny walked out of 5-O, the team barely had any time to process the information before they were called into a case.
Steve wonders if Cath knows, and he feels a longing so deep and profound to talk to her it unsteadies him. He wasn't aware it was possible to miss someone so much. Thinking about her brought him physical pain, and yet, he did it every minute of every day. A part of him was annoyed that Danny and Rachel were on the outs because when they were, Danny didn't divulge information about Catherine via Rachel. A more prominent part of him was annoyed that Lynn was indeed pregnant, his pre-cancerous cells had been removed, and Catherine had decided a pregnant Lynn was something she couldn't handle, especially now that Steve was relatively healthy.
Five weeks had gone by, and he hadn't heard, spoken, or seen her. Her silence didn't stop him from getting drunk and texting her how bad he's missing her or how bad he needs her a couple times a week. Her idea of being a good friend to him was ignoring the messages and texting him to make sure he was okay after some of 5-O's pursuits had made the papers. Even at his doctor's appointments, she came as a friend and insisted Lynn be present, as the mother of his unborn child, should be there and she had no right. It cut him to his core when he ended up in the hospital for a night, and she left him, Danny, and Lynn to discuss his options after the doctor had spoken. If Danny or Lynn had noticed, they left it alone, as he silently cried.
Catherine had made good on her promise to still remain in Steve's life, but her presence was hollow. Somehow that made it worse. To know Catherine was near, to see her, feel her presence, but not have her was torture. It was hard for Steve to breathe because he spent every minute in war; his heart fighting to go to her, his head knowing this wasn't the time. Why was everything so fucked? He was slightly jealous of Danny impregnating Rachel, it felt like Danny had solidified forever with his forever, not the woman he was casually sleeping with. Fate never played in Steve McGarrett's favor, and it was next to impossible for him to handle it any longer.
Before he could get in his own way, he texted her. He needed to see her and bare it all. She doesn't answer, and she's not at her place when he drives there after work. But he knows her better than he knows himself - he goes straight to his lanai, and sure enough, he can see the silhouette of her, hair blowing along with the wind. He sits down next to her and lays his head in her lap, her hands lazily comb through his hair, and they don't speak. It feels so right, and neither of them is willing to break the moment. Any words spoken will force them to acknowledge the reality of their situation; for now, they pretend.
